London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

A mother and son who were racially abused by a policeman revealed today that they had to teach themselves law because they couldn’t find a solicitor who would take on the Met.

Dwain Mae, 23, and his mother Andrea were called “black bastard”, “black pig” and “n****r” during a routine stop and search in Streatham in 2009.

Last October they were awarded £7,000 damages at Lambeth county court. The Met was allowed to appeal, and a decision on the case is due on Thursday.

“The case has gone to appeal, but we don’t care,” said Mrs Mae. “This is not about the money, it is to encourage people to come forward if they have suffered in the same position.”

Mr Mae, a student at the University of West London, said: “We tried to find a lawyer to represent us, but no one would take the case. We were willing to pay someone, but everyone we approached refused to take on the Met. So we decided to do it ourselves.

“Me and my mum started going to libraries and taking out law books. She would read for five, six, seven hours a day and once I got home from college I would take over. We would fall asleep on the books, and we did that for three years.” The pair now plan to set up The Mae Foundation to advise people in similar situations.

Last week, City of London police raided their flat and arrested them for using false documentation, seizing many case documents.

Mrs Mae said: “We were arrested and bailed. You get the feeling that they will do anything to stop us. We were contacted by the Commissioner and told to drop the case. We haven’t and I hope our win is not taken away from us.”

The Maes are being represented by a barrister, Matondo Mukulu, who told the Standard that his clients “did well to have brought their claims thus far and to have won at the first round”.